Bea squeaked in alarm as the dragon suddenly whirled around, knocking her over with its tail. Eppa made a move forward, but there was no need. Claws scrabbling against the pavement, the dragon vanished around the corner.
”Wait!” Bea called as Eppa helped her to her feet. She started after the dragon, but her husband held her back.
”It’s gone, Bea.” He said as she stared sadly after the beast, “You tried.”
”But—“ She started to respond, but was interrupted by the sound of a door slamming somewhere inside the shop.
He heard the door slamming, and ran faster, not caring about being seen anymore. Tears turned to waterfalls as his big blue eyes welled.
Eppa cast a glance over his shoulder. A second later, a familiar voice called, “Bea? E? You in here?”
”That’s Skylor,” Eppa said, stating the obvious. He jerked his head toward the door, “Come on. We’ll tell her what happened. Then the three of us can go looking for your dragon.”
Bea played nervously with the end of her head-tail, still staring into the distance. Finally, she gave a hesitant nod and followed Eppa back inside the shop.
He took refuge under the Monastery steps (small hc that there's a small nook under them that nobody noticed), not realizing a piece of crystal broke off and laid at the foot of the stairs.
As the Serpentine couple entered the shop, they found that Skylor was not alone.
”Oh, hey, Kai.” Eppa said, as Bea blinked at the Fire Ninja in mild surprise, “Long time, no see.”
”Yeah, well…” the brunet chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck, “Busy, you know? Protecting Ninjago and all that.”
(Don’t mind me just dropping all these canon characters on you, lol)
(It's fine. I'm fucking pissed at my computer, it kept sabotaging my chances of getting a full combo on a game-)
The voices got louder, kept screaming until he eventually snapped and let out a loud screech. It sounded like someone was yelling "Stop" in a different tongue (language).
Bea wasn’t in the mood for small talk.
”Kai; Skylor, we need your help.” She blurted out.
”Help with what?” Skylor asked curiously.
”Bea lost her dragon.” Eppa cut in before Bea could responded. The Serpentine woman hissed at him irritably.
”He is not my dragon.” She shot back at him.
He clutched his head, digging his claws painfully through the crystals and into his scales, ignoring the blood that dripped around the pink crystals. He repeated the phrase over and over again.
"You found a dragon?" Kai said, a note of alarm in his voice. Quickly, Bea and Eppa explained what had happened in the alley. When they finished, Skylor looked grave, while Kai appeared only exasperated.
"Can't even go five minutes in this country." He muttered under his breath. Aloud, he added, "I'll contact the others; we'll sweep the city and see if we can spot him."
"Okay, but if you find him, please be gentle." Bea pleaded, "He's just scared, and he needs help, not hostility."
Blood started to pool around him, the crystal dragon losing blood at an alarming rate. He eventually fell unconscious from blood loss.
(My goodness, my characters need to speed things up apparently)
After Kai called the other Ninja, they quickly organized search parties. Pixal, Nya, and Zane took the air with a couple of Vania's soldiers who were still in the area. Cole, Jay, Lloyd, and Garmadon searched the sewers with some reluctant Serpentine. Kai, Skylor, Bea, and Eppa searched the streets of the city, investigating the alleys and hidden nooks that the air team couldn't get to.
The search went on for several hours and well into the afternoon. Bea was beginning to give up hope they would find the dragon again when Kai got an unexpected call from the Monastery. The Serpentine woman watched as Kai listened to whoever was on the other end of his comm, his brow furrowed. Then his face paled. His eyes flicked up to Bea, and the woman held her breath at his expression.
<"That was Master Wu." He reported after a minute, "He found your dragon, Bea. And it's not good."
(sorry, this one's long)
(its alright)
Wu cut the comm call with Kai, gently dragging out the dragon from the nook. Grabbing the first aid kit, he tended to the unconscious dragon, a worried frown on his face.
It would take some time for the gang to regroup, but Bea couldn't wait. She demanded Kai take her back to the Monastery immediately, and after a bit of confusion over transportation, they managed to arrange for Pixal to pick them up in her Samurai X mech.
Wu sat by the wounded dragon, not caring about the crystals.
When the gang arrived at the Monastery, they found Wu knelt beside the crystal dragon. The beast was unconscious, and it seemed as though Wu had just finished patching him up. Bea gasped when she saw the state the dragon was in, and she didn’t hesitate to scramble down from the mech.
Wu noticed her and moved out of the way, frowning at the dragon's state.
Bea took a quick look, but Wu had done his job well, and it seemed the dragon was going to be all right. She glanced up and found everyone was staring at her silently, awaiting her verdict. The Serpentine woman cleared her throat awkwardly, “Can we… get him inside?”
Wu nodded. "Of course." The sensei bent down to pick up the dragon's top half, but before he could, his eyes snapped open and flicked to Wu. His pupils were slits.
A chill ran up Bea’s spine at the look in the beast’s eyes, but she didn’t have time to cry out a warning.
With a huff of pink fire out of his nostrils, the dragon rose, towering over Wu. The crystals attached to his scales like glue rattled with each movement.
The entire group became tense in anticipation, waiting to see what the dragon would do. Wu took a careful step back, and Kai slid subtly in front of Skylor and Pixal. Only Bea, who was crouched next to the beast, and Eppa, unwilling to leave her, remained unmoving.
Luckily, he didn't move. The dragon noticed Bea nearby and slightly backed up, eyes dilating back to normal as the voices in his head started yelling again.
For a second, everyone stood frozen, wary. Then, ever so slowly, Bea raised a hand and gently touched the dragon’s claw.
He looked at Bea in surprise, eyes wide. Ignoring the voices, he bent down and nuzzled her uncertainly, a purr rumbling in his throat.
Bea relaxed as the dragon nudged her hand affectionately. Nodding back to the others, she said, "He's okay. I don't think he's going to hurt anybody."
Wu exhaled sharply, giving a relieved smile as the dragon's purr grew louder. "He needs a name." He said thoughtfully.
Bea hummed, petting the dragon’s snout as her eyes drifted over his body. She noticed places where the pink crystals on his body had broken off and now lay scattered over the steps of the Monastery. She realized without the crystallized spikes, he was smaller than she initially thought.
”What about Illusion?” She suggested after a moment’s thought, “Because the crystals make him look bigger than he actually is.”
He seemed to like it, tail lashing happily as he made happy growls.
(I LIVE!!)
(Sorry, lol, I’ve just been really busy with school and stuff. :P)
“So…” Kai said after a moment of silence, “What now?”
”Well,” Eppa said slowly, “We need to figure out where he came from. And what exactly he is.”
”My scanners indicate that he is emitting a similar energy to the Overlord’s crystallized warriors.” Pixal piped up, “Though he does not appear to be contagious. However, I would like to conduct some tests just to be certain.”
